NEWCASTLE boss Graeme Souness has admitted his first season in the Magpies' hot-seat has been a failure - and now heads are going to roll.

Souness has been forced to deal with an endless list of problems since he took over from Sir Bobby Robson in August and most of them have been caused by the bad eggs he inherited.

And that's why the no-nonsense Scot has pledged to boot out the troublemakers in a #30million summer clearout.

- OUT will go Lee Bowyer

- OUT will go Laurent Robert

- OUT will go Hugo Viana

- OUT will go Patrick Kluivert

- OUT will go Nicky Butt

- OUT will go Craig Bellamy

The Toon crime sheet makes uncomfortable reading, with players being cautioned by the police, fighting with each other on the pitch, criticising the boss on the eve of an FA Cup quarter-final and branding him a liar on live television.

Given the backdrop of a season-long struggle with badly behaved players and under-achieving high-earners, it's nothing short of a miracle that the self-destructive Magpies managed to reach the FA Cup semi-final and UEFA Cup quarter-final.

However, their form in the league has been disastrous and Newcastle could be on target for their lowest placing in the Premiership - just two campaigns after they finished third.

"Our league campaign has been a failure," admitted Souness.

"If you have one bad egg in your dressing room and a few sympathetic ears, you have a problem. We will sort it, don't worry about that.

"This football club has had more than our fair share of bad publicity recently and to be successful we cannot continue like that.

"I am not prepared to comment on any individual's situation at this club but what I can say is that we cannot have another season like we have had this year.

"That is without a shadow of a doubt what has made us take our eye off the ball.''

Souness also admits that being a manager is a lot tougher than it used to be. He said: "You learn as you go along and you learn from your mistakes but the game has changed dramatically and so has being a manager.

"The job is far more difficult now. It is totally different to when I took charge at Rangers 19 years ago.

"I have been a manager for the best part of 20 years and management has changed dramatically. I worked under the likes of Jock Stein, Jack Charlton and Bob Paisley but I don't know if their their methods would work today.

"If you're in management a long time then your methods change as well.

"Look at Alex Ferguson - he's a very different manager to the one that walked through the door at Old Trafford.''

In a final dig at the disruptive dressing room he inherited, Souness warned: "Checking someone's character is part and parcel of spending a lot of money.''